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The Loud House Review/Transcript
Girl: 'See ya later, Sam. '''Sam: '''Okay, see ya! ''(Sam opens her locker, reads a love letter from Luna, and smiles. Luna is watching from around the corner and smiles too) (Intro) 'Announcer: '''You're watching ''The Loud House! And now we get to the show that has often been credited for saving Nickelodeon, The Loud House. Actually, I-I don't know if that's the half of it, ''The Loud House ''has kinda been treated as "the second coming." And there's a good reason for that. If you have just joined us and have skipped like, the past ''dozen or so reviews, Nickelodeon had been in their doldrums for about a decade. Ever since the year '''''2006, Nickelodeon has released a...bunch of mediocre shows, like Barnyard ''or ''Tak and the Power of Juju, and the network as a whole has had a hard time catching up to their original quality. Not helping were shows like Fanboy and Chum Chum, Breadwinners, or Robot and Monsters. Shows, that it was hard to see any sort of appeal in. Nickelodeon was making mistake after mistake like refusing Adventure Time, which would become one of their competitor's greatest hits. I had been the most harsh on Nickelodeon...since I started reviewing, more so than any other network. Because when I started, Nickelodeon was right in the middle of their dark ages. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked! I-I mean everything changed when The Loud House ''started airing. This show...was an immediate success, rivaling and then even 'surpassing' Spongebob'', becoming one of Nickelodeon's most successful cartoons ever. I've personally gone on record stating that I really do like this show. I have to admit though, that, The Loud House ''is just a touch overhyped. Personally, I do think ''The Loud House ''is...not just a good show but a great show. But, I will admit that it has a lot of problems. But when things are all said and done, I don't know if I'd put this on the list of "The Greatest Nicktoons Ever." Maybe in like a number 10 slot, or something of "The Best Nicktoons Ever," it-it's definitely not in the top 5, or close to number 1. Because this is one of those shows that has a lot of good going for it, and a lot of not so good. I will say that this show has a pretty unique concept if you don't watch anime. It's about a single boy, Lincoln Loud, living with his ten sisters and getting into all kinds of crazy cartoonish shenanigans. You might think that a lot of the episodes are specifically about Lincoln being the only boy in the family of mostly girls, but while those episodes do happen occasionally, the plots are more often about being in a big family in general. And if you've had the fortune, or, misfortune, of growing up in a particularly large family, you can definitely relate. Not that my family was anywhere near as big as Lincoln's family. The show's strength, obviously comes from its characters. Actually, that's a bit of a misstatement. The show's strength...comes from ''some ''of its characters. All of the Louds have their own fans certainly, but some of the sisters are certainly stronger than others. Lola for instance, is one of the best examples of a bratty little sister that I've ever seen. Her mannerisms and her expressions just make her a delight to watch. And when she does bad things, it's usually because she's the antagonist of the episode, and as a result, she gets consequences...unlike D.W. or Caillou. It's like they took everything wrong with D.W. and just, made it work. Lola doesn't whine, but more importantly, she can be really devious. Coming up with insidious plans to use those around her to her advantage. It can be delightful as the other siblings try to put up with her trickery. On the flip side you have Luan. Luan tells puns. '''Luan: '''Hey! Did you hear the one about the thief who stole a calendar? He got twelve months! *laughs* Get it? I'd say this prank's a little over your head! Seems to be your clucky day! I guess that's a wrap! I shaved the best for last! *laughs* That's it. That is the beginning and end of her character. I mean, she does do other thing occasionally, but it usually results in her making puns, or making the audience of ''The Loud House ''hate her. Specifically in those April Fools Day episodes, which, we'll talk about later. The show can feel a little bit lopsided when it comes to its characters. Some of them like Lola or Luna or Leni have tons of personality and onstage charisma. Some of them like Luan or Lily...do not. And yes, all of the girls have four letter words beginning with L. Which, strikes me as a mistake on their parents' part. I mean, I only had three siblings growing up, and we all had names of different lengths, starting with different letters, and our parents were still calling us by each other's names. Unfortunately, the lopsided characterization doesn't just ''stay in the Loud family either. The people who surround Lincoln's daily life tend to be a crapshoot. Flip is pretty memorable, as is their next-door neighbor. However, I don't think I can remember the name of Lincoln's teacher, despite watching every single episode of this show. And I couldn't tell you the name of any of Lincoln's friends except for Clyde. And as for Clyde, I have mixed feelings about him. First of all, Clyde has a fairly typical archetype. He's just the nerd with a ton of allergies. It's more or less Carl Wheezer. But the bigger problem that Clyde poses is how much screentime that he had early on. Let me put this in perspective. Clyde was not in any of the shorts or the trailers for The Loud House. The show really pushed forward the "big family" aspect with the personalities of the sisters. The show comes out, and the first few episodes decide to ignore all of the sisters and focus on Lincoln and Clyde. This was made a lot worse because some of the sisters really didn't have many focused episodes in season 1, because Clyde was taking up all of the slots. Seriously, the first three episodes of the show, could be considered "Clyde episodes." That's just really poor planning. The show did get off to a slow start. As we've established though, that's a problem with a lot of, not just Nicktoons, but cartoons in general. It took a while for even Spongebob ''to get its footings. But getting through the first half of season 1 of ''The Loud House, might be a touch difficult. I can't say that the episodes are awful, or even bad, because, they're not. They're just, slow and they kinda seem like the show didn't know what it was doing at the start. It eventually found its way...mostly...and Clyde did work his way into my good graces eventually. He is the kind of character that only works sparingly, I think? But I do understand his purpose in the show. Sometimes you need an outside perspective to make a lot of these episodes work. You need someone for Lincoln to describe how it works in a big family. Could you imagine what'd it be like if people within this big family were telling Lincoln how things were done in his own big family? That'd be stupid! And it just so happens to be an episode of the show that everybody hates, called "Brawl in the Family." (Shows clip of said episode where Loud sisters are fighting) Lynn Sr: '*gasps* Retreat! Retreat! '''Lincoln: '''Wait for me! ''(Loud sisters continue to fight and scream) All right, so let's get this out of the way. The Loud House ''actually has a lot of bad episodes. Like, sometimes it feels like ''Spongebob ''season 5. When the show is on point, it's great. But the quality of the episodes can sometimes feel like...playing the slots. I reviewed the episode "One of the Boys" in depth if you wanna check that out. Let me describe the problem with that episode really simply: Lisa, the character who literally does studies on her family's shitting habits, has the '''gall '''to tell off Lincoln for being gross because he put his finger in a peanut butter jar. '''Lincoln: '''And Lisa! You always do your weird poop studies! '''Lisa: '''It's quite fascinating work. '''Lori: '*running to the bathroom* Coming through! 'Lisa: '-missing piece of my gastrointestinal study! *runs upstairs and a red X appears over her face* I'm only human. 'Lincoln: '''Sometimes I wish I had ten brothers... '''Lisa: '''And I wish you would not eat our communal peanut butter with your booger-picking finger! And that's not even, the worst episode of the show. There's "The Green House," an environmental episode that showcases how "if you're environmental, your life will be ruined, you'll start to smell, and everyone else around you will try to fill in the vacuum of your empty carbon footprint." There's the episode with two boys trying to babysit a baby, that ends up like every other take on that idea in history. Oh, and there's also the episode where all of the Loud girls, including the infant Lily, end up sexually attracted to Lincoln's tutor. '''Lori: '-color guard. *gasps and blushes* (Hugh flips his hair) 'Lori: '''Ba...ba...ba... '''Lincoln: '''Lori, you okay? ''(Other girls come in and blush as Hugh flips his hair again) 'Girls: '''Ba...ba...ba... '''Leni: '''Hi, I'm- ''(Hugh flips his hair) 'Leni: '''Ba...ba... '''Hugh: '''There's quite a few of you... ''(Luna pants like a dog) 'Hugh: '*chuckles* Friendly lot...*the pets start rubbing against him* Ah, hello! Bit cheeky, aren't we? That-that one was creepy. Put it on my "Top 25 Disturbing Cartoons" list right now. However, when the episodes are good, they're very good. You get some very human moments of family, and some very touching stories. I don't think it's anything like Hey Arnold!, but, it's very reminiscent of Peanuts. As you've probably noticed, the show takes on a very newspaper comic's art style, and newspaper comics are a constant influence in the storytelling as well. It's to the point where the Louds' pets are all named after famous newspaper comic artists. The show does really seem to invoke the nineties in its style and its tone, which is kind of a breath of fresh air. I'd say it's been a really long time since we've had a show about an average kid living an average life, it almost feels retro at this point. But it even goes down to little things. Lincoln often begins an episode by just talking straight to the audience. That's not something people do in cartoons anymore. Once again though, this can be a double-edged sword. The Loud House ''has so many double-edged swords it could probably start opening an armory. The style that the show invokes makes it nostalgic almost on contact. Watching it can make you feel like a kid again. The problem is that not every piece of the nineties was great. This show definitely has grossout here and there. It's not as ''expansive as Ren & Stimpy ''or even ''Rocko's Modern Life, but it is like, the only Nicktoon I think that has ever had like, '''actual literal shit drawn in an episode. And of course, some of the messages that this show teaches can be very regressive. Just like in the good old days of the nineties! Ronnie Anne had one of the worst introductions of any character in history. Honestly, I am surprised that she is liked at all, like to the point of getting her own spinoff. Her first episode goes deep into the old chestnut: "if a kid bullies you, that means they like you!" This is AWFUL! It is an awful '''thing to teach kids even as a '''joke. This is the kind of stuff that we don't want to bring back. Yeah, sometimes it's true. Sometimes it's also true that people stalk and murder those that they like. Just because it happens doesn't mean it should be accepted or encouraged. Believe it or not though, her second appearance is probably worse. "Save the Date" is my least favorite episode of the show because, it is literally insane! So, Ronnie Anne had been bullying Lincoln. Lincoln wants nothing to do with her. So he basically tells her off. But lo and behold, Ronnie Anne is the sister of Lori's boyfriend, Bobby. So, Lori tries to force her younger brother to date his bully for her own selfish ends. Lori: 'How dare you bully our brother! Only we get to do that. When a girl picks on you, that only ever means one thing! She likes you...*sobs* Bobby is literally Ronnie Anne's brother! '''Lincoln: '''Ronnie Anne has a brother? I thought she was raised by trolls. '''Lori: '''You have to make things right with Ronnie Anne! Bobby has to ''see you being nice to her. That's the only way he'll get back together with me! Which is why, we're going on a double date! It's all been arranged. We have a reservation at Jean Juan's French Mex Buffet at 6. You. Will make her. Feel. Like the most special girl '''IN THE WORLD! (Lori lifts a table intending to throw it at Lincoln) Lincoln: 'I'll go iron my khakis! Hi Ronnie Anne...*is nudged by Lori* You're...looking...lovely this evening. Yeah...this is the kind of show that has episodes that can make you ''really ''turn against a character. Like that April Fools episode where Luan hired a bunch of stunt doubles to humiliate and ruin the lives of the rest of her family. The show has some of that nineties sadism, where things could get exceptionally dark, and it doesn't really gel well with the more wholesome aspects of the show. These pieces don't go together. It puts...''The Loud House ''in an interesting place. I think that most people will like ''something ''about ''The Loud House, but it's hard seeing someone love ''everything '''about ''The Loud House. You 'are '''going to find episodes that you do not like with this one I can almost guarantee it. Personally though, I think that the good episodes are...well worth the stinkers. There's a lot of good comedy in the good episodes and they do impressive things with what are normally stock archetypes. Episodes like "Ties that Bind" or "Undie Pressure" are well worth shit like "The Green House." If I'd make a recommendation, I'd say figure out which of the characters is your favorite from the get-go, and start watching episodes about them, and then build from there. Or, you could look up specific episode reviews, hint hint, as there does tend to be a consensus on the really bad episodes like, "Ruthless People" or "Brawl in the Family." Then again, "Butterfly Effect" is one of my favorite episodes of the show and a lot of people can't stand that because it's absolutely ridiculous. I personally don't like "One of the Boys" and yet other people...really like that episode. You know what? Just watch "A Tattler's Tale" or "Ties that Bind." Those are good places to start. However! Despite ''all ''the conflicts in the show, I think that there's one thing that ''everyone ''can agree on when it comes to this show. The show has to end with one of the parents saying "Let's have another." '''Announcer: '''Next on Nickelodeon... ''(Shows clips of the Bunsen is a Beast theme song) (End Credits Theme: "The Loud House Mix" by SB99) Category:Nick-o-Rama Category:Transcripts